In Dreams
by LaCinderel
Summary: John wakes Alicia from some much needed sleep, but she doesn't mind that much...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: OK, so here's another Johnny/Alicia story. I was inspired by the promo for the next episode. I think this one will be 2 or 3 chapters long, and I hope to finish it before March 1st. It is not a sequel to my other story, that one will remain as it is now. I do want to thank all of you for reading that one and for the encouraging reviews you wrote. Enjoy the ride :)**

* * *

Something was different. She sensed it, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was, exactly. Then her thoughts disappeared in a haze of desire, when he finally touched her. The sheets felt cool against her heated skin. Will's hands trailed fire down her arms, over her hips. His lips touched her mid riff as he kissed his way down from her breasts. Alicia let her head fall back against the pillow, biting her bottom lip and closing her eyes in anticipation.

She had missed this, him, so much. She opened her eyes again, wanting to look at him, needing drink in the sight of him. It had been so long… Lifting her head, she found his piercing blue eyes looking back at her, burning with passion…

_Wait. Blue?_

She almost whispered Will's name, but it wasn't him. She felt a bit silly for not realizing it before. Of course it wasn't him. Will was gone. That was sad, but she didn't feel very sad right now. How could she, when John was giving her that sexy smile, before going back to the exciting things he had been doing to her before?

Renewed lust replaced the surprise that had briefly taken her out of the moment. Alicia smiled and let her head fall back again. "John..." she whispered, urging him to hurry up. His tongue was now so close to where she wanted it to be...

The doorbell rang and John stopped what he was doing.

Alicia moaned and tried to ignore the sound, but whoever was on the other side of the door seemed to really want to speak with her. The bell rang again, this time accompanied by an insistent knocking.

Reality invaded when Alicia opened her eyes. Instead of her bedroom, she saw her living room. She was fully dressed and John was nowhere in sight. An empty wine glass sat on the coffee table. The TV was on, muted footage of tonights protests and Peter calming the masses playing over and over in a never ending news loop.

She remembered pouring herself a healthy glass of red wine after coming home and kicking off her shoes. All she had wanted to do was relax a little, before she went to bed. But she must have been more tired than she'd realized, because she had obviously fallen asleep and...

"Alicia?" John's voice, coming from the other side of the door, sent a jolt through her body and a fluttering sensation through her core. He knocked again, but she couldn't bring herself to answer. Paralyzed, she sat there, a blush creeping up her cheeks. How could she open the door for him after the dream she'd just had? He would see it in her eyes and feel awkward all over again. She couldn't do that to him.

On the other hand… He was her campaign manager. They needed to get through this or stop working together, and then she'd be stuck with Eli again. She liked working with John, because he was honest and smart and he gave her good, practical advice. Also, he only had her best interest in mind, unlike Eli. And after their conversation about the kiss, they had both gone back to behaving like the professionals they were. So maybe she should open the door.

She nodded decisively. And realized that John was probably gone by now. He hadn't knocked again while she was trying to make up her mind. Quickly, she walked to the door and opened it.

There he was, waiting for the elevator. "John, wait," she said, and he turned around just as the elevator door opened. His eyes were just as intensely blue as they had been in her dream.

How had she not noticed those beautiful eyes before?

"Alicia. Hi." He stood in the doorway of the elevator, preventing the door from closing. "Did I wake you?"

"I… Kind of. I dozed off on the sofa." Her face felt heated and her heart rate picked up, when she saw a flash of… _desire?_ in his eyes. She cleared her throat. "So… What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I..." Suddenly, he seemed tense. "I just wanted to remind you…" He smiled awkwardly and his gaze dropped to the floor while he shrugged. "Never mind, campaign stuff. It can wait. I'll call you tomorrow and…"

"John."

"What?"

Alicia couldn't believe what she was about to say. It was probably downright stupid to even _think_ about saying it. But she wanted to say it. And she didn't want things to be this awkward between them. So she took a deep breath and braced herself.

"This… thing between us. Maybe we should just…" She stopped herself. No. She couldn't do this. Could she?

"Maybe we should just… What?" His voice sounded a bit scratchy.

Alicia smiled at him, nervously, then looked at the floor. "Maybe we should just… give in. Get it out of our system. You know?" Looking back up, she saw him relax a little, a slightly puzzled look on his face. She gave him another nervous smile and swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. "Do you want to… come inside?"

He sucked in a breath, his eyes going wide and flashing with heat. At the same time, as if he'd been waiting for her to say just that, he stepped away from the elevator. The doors closed behind him. Then he just stood there, looking at her as if he couldn't believe she'd just invited him in to… Well. That made two of them. She couldn't completely believe it herself.

Maybe she was still dreaming?

She didn't know. She just knew that she wanted him. Now. Alicia reached out her hand, silently inviting him to take it and come inside with her.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, I love writing this and reading your thoughts on it :)**

* * *

John tried to keep his disappointment at bay when Alicia didn't answer the door. It was better that she didn't. They both needed time to regroup. He walked back to the elevator and pushed the button to call it back, shaking his head. He didn't even know what he was doing here in the first place.

Their conversation at the hotel played through his mind again. If Matthews hadn't interrupted his conversation with Alicia, and if Prady hadn't decided that he was too much of a coward to continue debating after that kitchen scene, John would only have made an even bigger fool out of himself. Better to just go home and get some sleep before facing her again.

He heard a door open behind him, and his heart began to beat faster.

"John, wait."

_You can do this_, he told himself as he turned around at the sound of her voice, just as the elevator door opened. _It's just business as usual. There are no feelings involved here._

Sure, he could have called to remind her that she had an interview scheduled tomorrow, but he'd been in the neighborhood anyway, so...

"Did I wake you?" he asked, congratulating himself on his steady voice.

He realized his mistake when she told him she'd been sleeping, invoking thoughts of her undressing. Lying in a bed. Which made no sense since she was still wearing the dress she had worn for the debate. The only thing she had taken off seemed to be her shoes.

Or... had she just put the dress back on because it was the first piece of clothing she could get her hands on when she'd heard him at the door? That did it. All of a sudden he couldn't look her in the eye, afraid of what she'd see in his. So he looked at the floor instead.

_Her soft lips under his own. His hands peeling her out of that beautiful dress. Silky skin on white sheets. Sexy black lingerie. Alicia looking up at him, her eyes glazed over with passion as he moved lower. To touch. To kiss. To..._

"What's wrong?" Alicia's voice interrupted the movie playing in his head.

It took him a moment to process what she was asking, but then he realized she wanted to know why he was here in the middle of the night. _Right. Business, no feelings. Be professional._

He heard himself stumble through something that could be some kind of explanation.

_Kissing his way down the side of her neck. Running his hands through that beautiful hair. _

Mumbling something about campaign stuff that could wait.

_Holding himself over her, her legs sliding along his and her hands stroking his back and shoulders, as he slowly..._

"John."

"What?" He looked at her again, saw her looking at him with those big brown eyes. He quickly moved his gaze to the door behind her as she seemed to brace herself for giving him some bad news. He'd probably screwed up by showing up here in the middle of the night.

_Way to go, Elfman. You just couldn't leave her alone, could you? You should have just called. Now she's gonna fire you, as she should._

He saw her lips move, but didn't really hear what she was saying. Still, somehow, he managed to hold up his end of the conversation while he was busy scolding himself and fighting to keep his thoughts and desires from showing on his face.

"Do you want to… come inside?"

_Wait, what?_

His legs understood before his mind had processed this. He took a step toward her. Then he just stared at her, thinking he must be more tired than he'd realized. Because there was no way that she had really just said what he thought she'd said. Right? He'd been up late last night, and when he'd finally gone to bed he kept tossing and turning. Thinking about that kiss, trying to figure out what it meant. How to move past it and go back to business as usual. And today had been… eventful, to say the least. So this was probably just his sleep-deprived mind, playing more tricks on him.

Alicia reached out her hand.

John decided he must be dreaming.

His legs started moving again, taking the few steps that separated him from her. His hand came up and took hers, and he couldn't stop himself from rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand to revel in the softness of her skin. She pulled him closer to her and he put his other arm around her waist. She smiled at him, just before she reached up and pulled his head down for a kiss, pressing her beautiful body fully against him.

"We should probably take this inside," she whispered against his mouth.

Oh, yes. He was going to draw this dream out as long as he could, John thought as he followed her through her front door.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I wasn't entirely happy with the way chapter 2 turned out, mostly because I think John comes across as some shy college boy, which he's definitely not... so I'll probably fix that eventually. If necessary, I will do a complete rewrite of chapter 2. Just not today, because I really wanted to write this chapter first :) Chapter 3 follows the original outline I had in mind. So if it feels disconnected from chapter 2, you now know why.**

**Enjoy, and let me know what you think!**

* * *

Everything inside Alicia focused on the sensation of John's hand finally touching hers, their fingers entwining. No, she wasn't dreaming, surrealistic as this whole thing may feel to her. John was here, and he was holding her hand. His gentle touch felt too real to be a dream. She released a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding in. For a moment there, she hadn't been entirely sure that she had judged the situation correctly. But they were really going to do this.

_Just this once_, she reminded herself firmly. _Just to get it out of my system._

Holding on to his hand she stepped back through her front door, her gaze holding his. Now that they were on the same page, his tension seemed to have vanished. His eyes had gone darker and she couldn't look away from the longing she saw in them. It was mesmerizing.

Alicia didn't know who moved first. Suddenly they were kissing each other, and it felt like heaven. John let go of her hand to pull her up against him, walking her backwards while her hands were sliding under his jacket to try and push it off his shoulders, needing to get closer, needing to feel his skin beneath her fingertips. Somehow he managed to shut the door behind them while shrugging off the jacket. She wasted no time and got to work on unbuttoning his shirt.

The jacket landed on the floor with a thud that was loud in the silence of the apartment. John tensed and lifted his head. "Alicia, wait," he sounded slightly out of breath. His hands covered hers. A hint of a smile crossed his face when she couldn't hold back a frustrated sigh. Then he turned serious again. For a few moments they just looked at each other, the silence between them broken only by the ticking of the clock. "I don't think this is a good idea," he finally said, quietly.

The wheels in Alicia's head, that had come to a halt the second his lips had touched hers, started spinning again immediately. She had misread him after all. She pulled her hands away and stepped back, feeling her cheeks flush in embarrassment. "John… I'm so sorry. I… I got carried away because of… Never mind. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable… Again." He kept silent. She took a deep breath and crossed her arms. "Do you think we could just... forget this ever happened?" She fought off the disappointment that came from saying those words.

"I'm…" John looked at the floor, seconds ticking by. "I'm not sure I want to," he replied, as he looked back up.

"Then… What do you want?" She whispered.

"What I'm not supposed to want." He sounded as frustrated as she felt. "Because we work together. You're married. We could ruin both our careers. You don't have feelings for me. Or… Whatever." He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "It's just… You know..."

"…Bad timing," she finished quietly. A shiver ran along her spine.

"Yes." There was surprise in his voice. He looked at her intently. "But I still want…"

"So do I," Alicia blurted, closing the distance between them again. "So let's forget about what we are supposed to do and do what we want… Just for tonight." She put her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his. "No one has to know, right?"

"Alicia…" one of his hands started caressing her lower back, the other slid up in her hair. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Just this once."

Alicia had barely uttered that last statement before John's mouth was on hers again and she could finally get to work on those buttons again. And this time, instead of stopping her, he let her. In fact, he put his own hands to good use, peeling off her dress. She guided him into her bedroom, their clothes seeming to vanish into thin air along the way. They fell down on her bed. They looked deep in each other's eyes when he finally entered her and made both their dreams come true, taking her to a place where only one man had ever taken her before.

* * *

The first hint of dawn was barely visible through the bedroom window when Alicia woke up to John kissing her. Being with him had been better than she ever could have dreamed... She smiled. "Hi," she whispered.

"Hi," he replied, and kissed her again. Then he leaned up on his elbow and looked at her, regret in his eyes. "I think I'd better go now, before anyone sees me leaving your apartment." But he made no move to get up. Instead, his hand started roaming her body.

As Alicia pulled his head down to kiss him some more, she started to realize that they may have made a mistake last night. But how could they have known?

"John?" she whispered, much later.

"What?"

"Do you think one night was enough?"

He smiled and slowly shook his head. "No," he said, "Not by a long shot. Do you?"

For the briefest of moments, she was tempted to lie. But she knew she couldn't ignore what she was feeling. Not again. So she told the truth.

"No… Not by a long shot."

As she spoke the words, she felt her heart settle.

**The end**


End file.
